Hopefully a UK specific thread will be of more assistance on its own, for UK residents.

I posted previously in the general libraries thread but felt that it was only going to get lost in amongst the much larger US and Canadian collections so thought I'd post here in a UK specific thread.

Although at the time of the original post numbers are low, its early days yet for the UK and digital downloads. Theres some catching up for UK libraries to do. Here is a list of the current collections and addresses for those that I know of.

Most UK libraries allow you to be a member for free if you either work, study or reside in their catchment area. This is great news if you are a UK resident as it means if you are either working or visiting an area you can join to take advantage of their ebook scheme. Typically if you take advantage and join on-line then you merely need to show up with proof of address to pick up your membership card at a local branch. This typically takes around ten to fifteen minutes and is time well spent.
Here is a list of joining requirements (where known);

Aberdeenshire Take proof of your name and address, such as a driving licence or utilities bill to one of our libraries and complete a registration form.

Bexley Possible to join on-line HERE, allows national join but only allows two books to be on your account at any time. Choose to join as an E-library member and you don't need to call into a branch.

Derby Local residents can join on-line. Work, study or visit can join at branch.

Dorset Anyone who lives, works or studies in Dorset, can join Dorset libraries at any of our 34 branches. It is free to join!

Dundee Membership of Dundee City Libraries is free and anyone who lives, works or studies in the city is eligible to join

Essex - allow you to join on-line. Emails you a membership number immediately upon application. Must call into an Essex library to upgrade to full membership.

Hampshire Membership criteria is 'live, work, study' in Hampshire. But there is an on-line option, so may be worth a go, particularly if you live in an adjoining county.

Liverpool - allow you to join on-line. States that they will send membership card to you in the post, but you then have to call into any Liverpool branch to have card authorised.

London - allow you to join on-line, but you have to collect your library card from a London library. Proof of UK ID required at time of Pick-up.

Luton No Information on website. Wrote to librarian and got the following reply "You'll need to come to one of our libraries in Luton to join. All you need is to provide recent proof (less than 3 months) of your current address and full name. Examples of acceptable I/D include a Council Tax payment book, driving licence, utilities bill, bank statement, etc."

Manchester - allow you to join on-line but you have to collect your library card from a Manchester library. Utility letter required to prove your address (anywhere in the UK allowed)

South Ayrshire Unsure of number of books due to setup of catalogue. You can join the library if you are a resident of South Ayrshire and if you work in South Ayrshire. Please note you will have limited privileges until you complete your registration at any South Ayrshire Library.

Suffolk
Live, work or visit Suffolk, you can complete the online form or go to any Suffolk library with proof of identification.

Surrey - allow you to join on-line as an elibrary member, will email you a virtual library card. Anyone in the UK can join.

Warwickshire Need to be based in the area to join (work, live or study)

As the number of UK libraries coming onto the overdrive scheme increases its no longer the matter of a moment or two to list and update them all. Due to this fact I’ll no longer be updating this list from today. There are as of todays date (12th January 2012) 396 UK libraries listed on the Overdrive search page HERE (search for Great Britain, UK doesn’t return any results). I will of-course carry on replying to the thread and will if I can assist in answering your queries.

For some reason I don't understand UK libraries don't make much of a fuss when they start their digital libraries so its easy to miss new additions. If anyone else knows of any others then please reply to this thread as and when you find them.

There is a VERY good forum specific Wiki page HERE many thanks to pdurrant for taking the time to both add these contact details and point this out.

Last edited by feenix1363; 01-12-2012 at 08:16 PM.
Reason: Updated for 2012

Thank you very much for this! I'm in the UK for the next few months and my local library system here doesn't have ebooks - I didn't know that I could join the other libraries without living local to them. This is a big help!

Ooh, thanks for this Feenix!
I asked my local library (Hillingdon, W London) back in 2009 whether they had any plans for ebooks. I'm not at all sure they knew what I was talking about, but the answer was a definite 'No' !
I'll have a look through the ones you've mentioned to see what their collections are like.
Thanks again.

The University of Sussex has a growing number of e-books (the linked-to page contains a list of e-book collections, including those to which the university has paid and a subscription, plus those that are freely available. For example, bookboon.com which supplies travel guides, textbooks and business e-books in PDF format, without requiring any registration).